Fiber-optic cable is now being widely deployed by telecommunication companies because it has advantages over copper wire cable, such as having much greater bandwidth. Each optical glass fiber in a multi-fiber fiber-optic cable has a glass core encapsulated by glass cladding, the clad core having an outside diameter on the order of 125 microns (μm). One micron is only one-thousandth of a millimeter or only about 0.000039 inches.
From time to time, these tiny glass fibers may need to be spliced together in the field during installation or when making modifications after installation. One splicing technique, called fusion splicing, is analogous to welding two pieces of metal together, and involves an electrical arc that melts the glass at the ends of the two fused-together fibers. A fusion splice can take a relatively long time to accomplish, perhaps as much as 45 minutes per splice. By comparison, a mechanical splice of an optical fiber requires far less time because it uses only physical contact between two end-faces (surfaces) of two different optical glass fibers, without melting the glass. But, because of the inherently small dimensions involved, quality mechanical splicing can be hard to accomplish, even under ideal working conditions.
Regardless of whether fusion, mechanical or some other splice technique is employed, attempting to splice together optical fibers in the field is very challenging and, if the field splicing operation must be performed in the out-of-doors, rather than in an enclosed building, then multiple environmental distractions may add to the challenge. For example, if one is trying to accomplish the delicate operation of fusing together or mechanically splicing two optical fibers having diameters of only 125 microns, then any gust of wind, any precipitation (rain, snow, hail, sleet, etc.), any insect bite suffered by the user, any animal nuisance, any excessive heat or sunlight glare and/or any other environmentally-caused perturbation can reduce the likelihood of a successful fusing/splicing operation.
What is needed, therefore, is an advantageous technique for separating the user-technician from the outdoors environment while, simultaneously, providing him/her with a virtually motionless, but otherwise portable, work surface for facilitating the fusing/splicing operation. The instant disclosure and claimed subject matter address this need.